Four online healthtech courses to do in 2026
Africa’s healthtech ecosystem is at a pivotal moment, having emerged as a global hub of innovation.
Telemedicine platforms are narrowing the urban-rural healthcare divide, with adoption accelerating in underserved communities, while blockchain solutions are strengthening patient data security amid escalating cyber threats.
Innovators in Lagos, Nairobi and Cape Town now reach tens of millions of users, easing doctor shortages and infrastructure constraints through mobile applications and data analytics that reduce healthcare costs.
To sustain this momentum, the expansion of online courses is critical, equipping Africans with health informatics and digital skills to participate in the sector’s growth – whether by launching ventures, entering the workforce, or driving impact in underserved regions without financial barriers.
Connecting Africa has compiled a list of four online healthtech courses available in 2026.
These courses are designed to build in‑demand skills and help students, health professionals and tech innovators stay relevant in Africa’s expanding digital health ecosystem.
1: AI in Healthcare (Coursera)
Coursera’s AI in Healthcare course explores AI diagnostics and ethics.
The course helps students identify problems healthcare providers face that machine learning can solve.
Students learn how to analyze how AI affects patient care safety, quality and research. The course helps students relate AI to the science, practice and business of medicine.
Students also learn how to apply the building blocks of AI to help innovate and understand emerging technologies
2: Application of Digital Health Interventions (FutureLearn)
FutureLearn’s Application of Digital Health Interventions course offers students the opportunity to learn digital health applications for dealing with complex diseases.
Based on World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, digital health intervention is defined as a discrete functionality of digital technology that is applied to achieve health objectives.
Students will explore research on the development of digital health.
Issues like why digital health is important and how digital health can affect our future will be discussed.
_(1).jpg?width=1280&auto=webp&quality=80&disable=upscale "Students on laptop")
The expansion of online training is critical, equipping Africans with health informatics and digital skills to participate in the healthcare sector’s growth. (Source: Image by Freepik)
3: Digital Health Essentials (FutureLearn)
FutureLearn’s Digital Health Essentials helps students discover digital health and learn how digital health improves efficiency, reduces medical errors and improves health outcomes.
This course gives students a glimpse into the digital health ecosystem and provides information on how healthcare professionals embrace ICT for healthcare.
Students will explore the backbone of digital health, hardware and software in building digital health systems and understand the impact of digital health in improving user experience and increasing healthcare quality.
4: Health Informatics (Coursera)
Coursera’s Health Informatics Specialization program will help students articulate a coherent problem definition of, and a plan for addressing, a health informatics problem.
The course will help students solve health informatics problems through data retrieval and analysis.
Students will design a health informatics solution for decision support as well as create a change management and deployment plan for a health informatics intervention.